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Demand for Childcare at Work Soars among UK Companies

Varun Bhanot|Updated January 23rd 2019

Here at Hubble, we’ve seen an astonishing 45% month-on-month increase in UK companies searching for childcare facilities over the past year. To meet this demand, at least five new coworking spaces with onsite childcare have popped up in London.

It might be that UK companies are increasingly searching for workspace with childcare facilities in order to satisfy employee demand. This reflects the broader changes that we are seeing in the future of workplace trends that integrate more flexibility into the work environment. Other popular trends such as pets in office, working remotely and having office showers have all seen boosts in the last 2 years blurring the lines between work and home life.

Other new spaces include Blooms – the female only workspace, Edspace and The Crumb@Work. These spaces are viewed 25% more on average than other workspaces listed on Hubble.

Selina Bakkar, Co-Founder of Amaliah, who chose to base her startup at Huckletree West, commented on the value of childcare facilities:

“If employers and businesses want to understand what the future of work looks like they need to look to spaces like Huckletree. In order to retain staff and create a culture of inclusion, pizza and beers on a Friday isn’t enough. The workspace needs to reflect the needs of the workforce and Huckletree have recognised this by creating the family room where parents can comfortably work and be with their children. It is a space that allows you to bring all the sides of you to work.”

Huckletree West, White City

The rising demand for childcare facilities has been complemented by the rise in female focused workspaces. There has been an unprecedented 300% increase in these types of workspaces such as AllBright, Blooms and The Wing, just in the last quarter on Hubble. We predict it will rise further.

Hubble’s CEO and Co-founder, Tushar Agarwal, said:

“When we started Hubble, the main perks tech startups wanted were ping pong and free beer. Now companies are growing up, and on-site childcare is becoming a major priority. UK tech founders are increasingly approaching Hubble to source flexible office space with creches not only because they are working parents themselves but in order to attract the best talent.

We anticipate the number of workspaces with creches in London will treble by 2020, and spread across tech hubs across the UK.”

When we surveyed Hubble companies at the beginning of this year for “additional facilities they would most like to have”, we found that childcare facilities had shot up from 0% straight to over 11%. This made it more popular than parking, and almost on par with having pets and nap pods in the office.

Andrew Lynch co-founder of Huckletree said: “Millennials are growing up, they’re getting into their thirties, getting married and having kids. Their needs are evolving from ping-pong tables to childcare. They want to have the option of taking their child to the park at lunchtime and having some time with them during the day.